Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 if…
- you need log-probabilities — to read token confidence for classification and scoring; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) does not advertise it
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 vs OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)
Neither wins outright: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 is the pick when you need log-probabilities, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) when cost matters at scale.
Key numbers
| Spec | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | OpenAI |
| Input price (per 1M tokens) | $0.25 | $0.02 |
| Output price (per 1M tokens) | $0.95 | $0.11 |
| Blended price (3:1 input/output) | $0.42 | $0.05 |
| Cheaper than … of all models we track | 56% | 87% |
| Context window | 164K tokens (~246 pages) | 131K tokens (~197 pages) |
| Larger context than … of all models | 36% | 23% |
| Max output per response | 33K tokens (~24,600 words) | 118K tokens (~88,500 words) |
| Input types | text | text |
| Output types | text | text |
| Free variant | No | No |
| Listed since | 2025-08-21 | 2025-08-05 |
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What it costs for real workloads
Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.
| Workload (per month) | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens) | $37.75 | $4.04 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $33.71 |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens) | $39.50 | $4.00 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $35.50 |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens) | $41.40 | $4.22 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $37.18 |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens) | $25.70 | $2.59 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $23.11 |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens) | $13.45 | $1.31 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) saves $12.14 |
Capabilities side by side
| Capability | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) | What it lets you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tool / function calling | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | call your APIs and run agent loops |
| Structured output (JSON schema) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | return JSON that validates against your schema |
| Reasoning / thinking mode | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | spend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems |
| Image input | — | — | read screenshots, charts and scanned pages |
| Audio input | — | — | take speech or audio directly |
| File / PDF input | — | — | accept documents without your own parsing step |
| Image output | — | — | generate images, not just text |
| Built-in web search | — | — | answer from live web results |
| Seed (reproducible sampling) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | repeat a generation for tests and evals |
| Log-probabilities | ✓ Yes | — | read token confidence for classification and scoring |
From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.
Price history
- DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: input price cut 55% ($0.55 → $0.25/1M), output price cut 42% ($1.65 → $0.95/1M) on 2026-09-08 (5 price changes since 2026-03-10).
- OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): input price cut 52% ($0.05 → $0.02/1M), output price cut 44% ($0.20 → $0.11/1M) on 2026-09-23.
| Date | Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) | $0.02 | $0.11 |
| 2026-09-08 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.25 | $0.95 |
| 2026-09-04 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.55 | $1.65 |
| 2026-09-02 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.25 | $0.95 |
| 2026-08-22 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.55 | $1.65 |
| 2026-08-06 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.25 | $0.95 |
Which should you choose?
Choose OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) if…
- cost matters at scale — it is 89% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($4.04 vs $37.75 a month for 50,000 support chats)
- you generate long outputs in one go — up to 118K tokens (about 88,500 words) per response
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 better than OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?
Neither wins outright: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 is the pick when you need log-probabilities, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) when cost matters at scale. In short: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 when you need log-probabilities; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) when cost matters at scale, you generate long outputs in one go.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?
OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) is cheaper: $0.05 vs $0.42 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 89% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $4.04 against $37.75.
How much do DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) cost per million tokens?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $0.95 per 1M output tokens; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) costs $0.02 input and $0.11 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: 164K tokens, about 246 pages, against 131K (about 197 pages) for OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch).
Do DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) support function calling and JSON output?
Tool calling — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: yes, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): yes. JSON-schema structured output — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: yes, OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): yes.
Can DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) read images?
Neither accepts image input — both are text-in models.
Is DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) free to use?
No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.
What is the maximum output length of DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 can write up to 33K tokens (about 24,600 words) per response; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) up to 118K (about 88,500 words).
When were DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) released?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 was listed on 2025-08-21; OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) on 2025-08-05.
Has the price of DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) changed?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: input price cut 55% ($0.55 → $0.25/1M), output price cut 42% ($1.65 → $0.95/1M) on 2026-09-08 (5 price changes since 2026-03-10). OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch): input price cut 52% ($0.05 → $0.02/1M), output price cut 44% ($0.20 → $0.11/1M) on 2026-09-23.
About the two models
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1
DeepSeek-V3.1 is a large hybrid reasoning model (671B parameters, 37B active) that supports both thinking and non-thinking modes via prompt templates. It extends the DeepSeek-V3 base with a two-phase long-context...
Full DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 specs →OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch)
gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license. It uses a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture with 3.6B active parameters per forward pass, optimized for...
Full OpenAI: gpt-oss-20b (batch) specs →